Like with so many tales that fall from the lips of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, there are constant changes to how their first meeting went down.
In this post, we’ll explain the rumours and the different stories by Harry and Meghan of how they first met.
We’ll explore Meghan’s obvious jealousy of Catherine and Princess Charlotte in a later post.
Meghan And Harry Meet On Princess Diana’s Birthday
This first version is mentioned in Prince Harry’s book, Spare. According to People Magazine, the Sussexes were mutual friends of socialite Violet Von Westenholz. Violet was indirectly referenced during the engagement interview where Meghan says something along the lines of “We need to respect her privacy”. She wasn’t directed named. Also, Violet’s father is close friends with The King.
Anyway, Harry saw a picture of Meghan on Violet’s Instagram. It was allegedly Markle who reached out first. Violet gave Harry Meghan’s contact information on July 1 2016, Princess Diana’s birthday. It is Harry’s belief (at least in Spare) that his mother, from beyond the grave, brought him and Meghan together.
The Blind Date
During the Engagement interview, in 2017, Harry and Meghan said that a female friend (Violet) set up their first meeting as a blind date. Meghan later wrote the interview off as an “orchestrated reality show” in the Netflix reality series and that “they weren’t allowed to tell their story.” Harry agreed (naturally) with this, keeping to the narrative that they weren’t allowed to speak “their truth”.
Mishal Husain hit back at Meghan’s claims saying while she had been new to the job, the interview was not orchestrated. It was set up by Kensington Palace just as William and Catherine’s engagement interview was in 2010.
RUMOUR – It Was Markus Anderson Who Set Up Harry And Meghan’s First Meeting
There is a rumour that Meghan’s SoHo House best friend, Markus Anderson set her and Harry up or had some hand in it.
It wouldn’t be surprising. He is still present in her life today, which is unlike other friends she has had over the years. Also, he appears to have some ties to Harry, though we know some of the royals have ties to various SoHo Houses around the world.
Emily Andrews, a royal reporter, posted to Twitter in September 2017 that it was Markus who introduced Meghan and Harry.
RUMOUR – Misha Nonoo Had A Hand In Harry And Meghan’s First Meeting
There is a rumour that Misha Nonoo, who has direct ties to the British Royal Family, was partially responsible for setting the Sussexes up on their first meeting. How? Well, she is good friends with Princess Eugenie and her first husband was a friend of Prince William when they were at Eton.
However, whether Misha knew Harry or William before she met Meghan is unclear. Though, a post on Tumblr (which we’ve linked below) shows a screenshot of Meghan and Misha together in Istanbul at the same time as Harry.
RUMOUR – Meghan And Harry Met Much Earlier Than They Claim
This next rumour stems back to 2015 when is it said that Meghan and Harry met much earlier than they claimed. Someone posted to Tumblr and then to Reddit that the Sussexes first met at the Istanbul Soho House. They provide proof to back what they’re saying. The Tumblr post says that Meghan was in Istanbul in 2015 at the same time Harry was.
It gets better. There was another person who has royal ties at the Istanbul Soho House: Eddie Redmayne. Eddie was in the same year as Prince William at Eton.
RUMOUR – Meghan Bagged Harry Months Earlier Than Claimed
There has been constant chatter that Meghan had allegedly cheated on her then-boyfriend, chef Cory Vitiello, with Harry. This would not the be only time she is accused of cheating. There was a rumour that she cheated on her first husband, Trevor Engelson.
Also, there was a Vanity Fair article that originally claimed Meghan and Harry met in May 2016 while she was still with Cory. However, the month was later changed to July in the online edition. Not to mention there is confirmation that Meghan was still dating Cory when she met Harry.
However, an article with Kristoffer Polaha in 2022, suggests Meghan and Harry met in March 2016. Kristoffer mentions in the article that Meghan had texted him in January 2016 and said she was single (of course she wasn’t as she was with Cory) and then a few months later in March, he got another text saying she’s met someone.
Just a bit of context, Meghan and Kristoffer starred in a Hallmark movie together.
